Algerian president's party rejects his strategy to end political turmoil

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's own ruling party has rejected his plans for a national conference aimed at putting an end to mass protests against his leadership.

Hocine Khaldoun, the spokesman for the National Liberation Front (FLN) party, said on Sunday on private TV channel Dzair News that holding a national conference is "no longer valid" because it would involve figures who have not been elected by the Algerians.

Khaldoun noted that the solution to Algeria's political crisis is "the election of a president capable of talking to the people."

The spokeman’s remarks are a new blow to the ailing 82-year-old president, who has barely been seen in public since a 2013 stroke and has faced weeks of protests.

To ease off the political turmoil, Bouteflika canceled an April 18 election and proposed the national conference formed of various representatives of society to prepare new elections.

On Saturday, 23 March, Algeria's opposition said they have prepared a roadmap that would end the political crisis in the country.